Product category:
Sawing and cutting-off machines and automation systems
News Release from: Kasto | Subject: KASTOtec A7 CNC bandsaw
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 23 November 2007
Bandsaw slices through high nickel
alloys
After reviewing machines from three suppliers, a 'super alloy' stockholder selected a bandsaw to cut high-nickel-content alloy bars, billets and forgings.
Wrought nickel-based super alloys are high strength, corrosion resistant metals, used widely for safety-critical applications in the offshore and aerospace industries Kasto said that a problem with these metals, is that they can be extremely difficult to saw
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 23 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Superalloy stockholder, Sheffield, UK-based Special Quality Alloys (SQA), identified what it believed to be the best bandsaw for cutting high-nickel-content alloy bars, billets and forgings, including large cross sections.
The company reviewed machines from three suppliers, and then selected a KASTOtec A7 CNC bandsaw with a cutting capacity of 730mm in 2006.
The machine uses carbide-tipped blades almost all of the time, although bimetal blades are used occasionally for cutting softer alloys.
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Commented SQA's managing director, Simon Marshall, "It is important to cut straight through these wrought alloys quickly without backing off the blade during the cycle, otherwise the material hardens at the point of contact, making it even more difficult to saw.
The KASTO machine has proved to be ideal for these applications, reliably cutting some of the world's toughest materials to one millimetre accuracy on length and squareness, despite working 24 hours a day".
He added: "Blade deflection monitoring, with automatic machine shutdown if the cut drifts out of tolerance, gives us peace of mind for 'lights out' cutting of materials typically worth over GBP 20 per kilogram.
The last thing we want is a piece of scrap costing thousands of pounds".
Marshall also said that the A7 cost less on maintenance than some other manufacturers' bandsaws the company uses, He reckoned that the other machines are more temperamental and constantly need money spending on them.
Kasto said that it was the good performance of a 360mm capacity KASTO bandsaw bought by SQA in the early 1990s, which is still operational today, that persuaded Marshall and works manager, Jonathan Gillott, to return to the same supplier for the larger KASTOtec A7.
Its purchase reflects a steady increase over the years in both the size and volume of materials stocked.
As larger material is heavy to handle (a 4m length of 660mm diameter bar weighs in excess of 10 tonnes), the machine has been supplied with a powered roller conveyor to facilitate material infeed to the saw blade.
There is another KASTO machine that is over 15 years old working every day at the stockholder's US subsidiary in Houston, Texas, USA, which was opened in 1999.
Staff there are said to be delighted with the performance of this older bandsaw and have subsequently purchased two newer machines, the latest, a KASTOtec A4, installed during 2007.
* batch sizes - batch size varies dramatically due to the customised nature of the products, so sawing machine qualities such as speed of set up, ease of operation, and safety in use are all-important areas of consideration.
Continued Marshall, "Unlike some businesses which are looking to maximise short-term profits, perhaps at the expense of mid or long term growth and sustainability, our family-run company is 83 years old and here for the long term.
We buy equipment accordingly, always looking to source top quality machines, as we feel that buying second-best plant is a false economy".
He said: "We consider that in the KASTOtec A7, we have acquired a premium product without having to pay over the top for it.
The machine has impressive capabilities for cutting a broad range of materials, as the operating parameters are wide and can be adjusted to within fine limits to optimise the cutting conditions".
It is surprising how much faster the latest KASTO bandsaw is compared with the one dating back to the early 90s.
Gillott said that it is at least one third quicker at cutting tough materials.
They include Inconel 718 up to 635mm diameter and high strength steels such as F6NM, Super Duplex and 17-4 stainless varieties up to 660mm diameter, which is SQA's other speciality.
Even compared with other makes of bandsaw on the Sheffield site that are only three to five years old, productivity is appreciably higher on the KASTOtec A7.
* About SQA - Special Quality Alloys is part of the Special Steel Group of companies, founded in 1925 by Bennett Beardshaw and currently run by his grandson, group chairman Alan Beardshaw.
The company moved to its present site in 1994.
Expansion in 2007 saw the firm's stockholding capacity more than double to 4,000 tonnes, due to increasing demand from the oil, gas and power generation markets for its technically driven products and expert processing capabilities.
North Sea operations consume a large proportion of output after the sawn material has been heat treated, machined and tested in the group's extensive range of facilities.
Overseas customers are many, with deliveries regularly made to Continental Europe, South America, Scandinavia, the Middle East and Asia.
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